Literature of the German Democratic Republic
Nineteenth-Century German Literature
Anglo-German Literary Relations

Administrative and Related Professional Experience:

Chair, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Delaware1986-2013Special Advisor for International Affairs, Office of the Dean, College of Arts and Sciences,University of Delaware, 1999-2001Acting Associate Provost for International Programs and Special Sessions,University of Delaware, 1989-1990Chair, East Asian Studies Program Committee, University of Delaware, 1987-1989Chair, Department of German and Russian, Oberlin College, 1982-1986Associate Chair, Department of German and Russian, Oberlin College, 1981-1982Chair, Comparative Literature Program Committee, Oberlin College, 1979-1980,1981-1982, and 1985-1986
Director, Oberlin College German Semester Abroad Program, 1973, 1979, and 1984
Director, Oberlin College German Summer Session in Vienna, 1975

Awards and Honors, Grants and Fellowships:

Member, International PEN Centre of German-Speaking Authors Abroad / PEN Zentrum deutschsprachiger Autoren im Ausland, 2018Lifetime Service Award, from the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Delaware,in recognition of years of outstanding service, 2014Choice 50th Anniversary Honor Roll, for 40 years of dedicated service as consultant andbook reviewer on literature of the German Democratic Republic, 2014Excellence in Service Award, from the College of Arts and Sciences, University ofDelaware, for outstanding contributions in the areas of foreign language educationand study abroad, 2001Order of Excellence Award, from the Delaware State Board of Education, for outstandingservice as Co-chair of the State Foreign Languages Curriculum FrameworkCommission, 1997Merit Award, from the State of Delaware Department of Public Instruction, for distinctivecontributions to the program of public education in Delaware, 1997Foreign Language Advocate of the Year Award, selected by the Delaware Council on theTeaching of Foreign Languages, 1995Visiting Humanities Fellow, American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, TheJohns Hopkins University, 1992-1993President, Association of Departments of Foreign Languages Executive Committee,Modern Language Association, 1987University of Delaware Supplemental Funds Grants in support of research on literarycensorship in the German Democratic Republic, summer 1987 and summer 1993Representative to the Delegate Assembly for the Division on Twentieth-Century GermanLiterature, Modern Language Association, 1983-1985National Fellowship, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, in support of research and writing on literature of the German Democratic Republic, 1980-1981International Research and Exchanges Board Scholar, exchange program with theGerman Democratic Republic, 1977-1978Oberlin College Grants-in-Aid in support of research and writing on contemporary EastGerman literature, fall 1975, spring 1976, spring 1978, and spring 1980H. H. Powers Travel Grant for a 30-day study trip through the German Democratic Republic, 1973Julius Hofmann Memorial Fund Award for scholarship in German, awarded annually tothe outstanding graduate student in German within the State of Maryland, 1968National Defense Education Act Title IV Fellowship for graduate study at The JohnsHopkins University, 1967-1969Gilman Fellowship for graduate study at The Johns Hopkins University, 1965-1969Gale Fellowship for graduate study at The Johns Hopkins University, 1965-1966

Bibliography:

Books, Editions and Edited Compilations:

Von Oberlin nach Ostberlin. Als Amerikaner unterwegs in der DDR-Literaturszene. Berlin: Ch. Links Verlag, 2013. 224 pp. [Documentary memoir based on experiences the author had while doing research and travelling in the former German Democratic Republic during the 1970s and 1980s; draws heavily on a 344-page file the East German secret police (Stasi) compiled on him with the help of informants, sections of which are incorporated into the book, along with appropriate commentary]

Remembering East Germany. From Oberlin to East Berlin. 2018. 404 pp. [Online English edition of the documentary memoir cited above, richard-zipser.com; longer in length than Von Oberlin nach Ostberlin with a substantial amount of new material; translation into English by the author]

Editor, Literary Portrayals of Postunification Germany. Special issue of Colloquia Germanica (Vol. 30, No. 4, 1997), published for the University of Kentucky by Francke Verlag, Tübingen and Basel. 91 pp. [Collection of essays with a foreword]

Guest editor, Literary Censorship in the German-Speaking Countries, a two-part series contained in successive special issues of The Germanic Review. Part One: Literary Censorship in Switzerland and Austria since 1945 (Spring 1990, Vol. 65, No. 2, 49-87). Part Two: Literary Censorship in the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic (Summer 1990, Vol. 65, No. 3, 97-131). [Essays and interviews with writers, preceded by a critical introduction]

Editor, with Reinhold Grimm and Peter Spycher, From Kafka and Dada to Brecht and Beyond. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1982. 83 pp. [Collection of essays by five distinguished scholars with a foreword by Spycher and Zipser]

“An Organizer’s View,” in The Future of Germanistik in the USA: Changing Our Prospects, ed. John A. McCarthy and Katrin Schneider (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1995), 157-161. Proceedings from the German Academic Exchange Service symposium held at Vanderbilt University, October 13-16, 1994.

“Building a Full-Service Foreign Language Department: Some Strategies and Interdisciplinary Initiatives,” in ADFL Bulletin, Vol. 23, No. 3 (Spring 1992), 28-33. Revised version entitled “Building a Full-Service German Department” published in Post-Wall German Studies: A Challenge for North American Colleges and Universities in the 1990s, proceedings from the German Academic Exchange Service conference held in Scottsdale, Arizona, February 6-9, 1992.

“The Many Faces of Censorship in the German Democratic Republic, 1949-1989: A Survey,” in The Germanic Review,Vol. 65, No. 3 (Summer 1990), 111-117.

General Editor of DDR-Studien/East German Studies (Peter Lang Publishing), a series of scholarly monographs on topics in the humanities and social sciences pertaining to the German Democratic Republic, 1986-2014. [18 titles published]

Member of the Board of Editors, University of Delaware Press, 1991-1997.

“Rethinking, Restructuring, and Repositioning the Foreign Languages/Literatures Department: Some Practical Ideas and Strategies,” at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, November 30, 2001.

“New Directions/New Dimensions: Expanding Horizons through Study Abroad,” at ADFL Summer Seminar West, Plenary Session on Study Abroad: Internships and Other Configurations, University of Victoria, British Columbia, June 27, 1998.

“Literary Censorship in the GDR: A Post-Wall Perspective,” at SAMLA Annual Convention, German III Section (1933-Present) on GDR Literature in Retrospect, Baltimore, November 11, 1994.

“Scissors in Hands, Scissors in Heads: Literary Censorship in East Germany,” Keynote Address at Symposium on Power and the Word: The Role of the Writer in Repressive Societies, Loyola College, Baltimore, April 14, 1994.

“New Models for Interdisciplinary Programs in Foreign Languages,” at MLA Annual Convention, Session on The Foreign Language Major: New Issues, New Options, New York, December 28, 1992.

“Literary Self-Censorship in East Germany: Creating and Coping With the Enemy Within,” at German Studies Association Annual Conference, Session on Cultural Censorship in Germany in Historical Perspective: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Minneapolis, October 3, 1992.

“Literary Censorship in East Germany,” at American Institute for Contemporary German Studies Workshop on Cultural Censorship in Post-War Germany, The Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C., June 11, 1992.

“Building a Full-Service German Department: Some Strategies and Interdisciplinary Initiatives,” at German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Conference on Post-Wall German Studies: A Challenge for North American Colleges and Universities in the 1990s, Session on German Studies, Linguistic Proficiency and Interdisciplinarity, Arizona State University, Scottsdale, February 8, 1992.

“Study Abroad Programs Designed for Intermediate-Level Language Learners and for Non-Majors,” at Conference on Bridging Theory and Practice in the Foreign Language Classroom, Session on Cross-Cultural Communication, Loyola College, Baltimore, October 19, 1991.

“Building a Full-Service Foreign Language Department: Some Strategies and Interdisciplinary Initiatives,” at ADFL Summer Seminar West, Plenary Session on Internationalizing the Curriculum: New Requirements, New Models, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, June 14, 1991.

“The Many Faces of Censorship in the German Democratic Republic,” at Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, Session on Literature of the GDR (II), University of Kentucky, Lexington, April 27, 1990.

“A Vote for the Collective Foreign Language Department,” at MLA Annual Convention, ADFL-Sponsored Session on Varieties of Foreign Language Programs: Program Structure and Its Implications, Washington, D.C., December 30, 1989.

“A Response to Patricia Herminghouse,” at MLA Annual Convention, Special Session on The GDR and Glasnost, Washington, D.C., December 28, 1989.

“Developing Study Abroad Programs: Institutional and Departmental Perspectives,” at First State Conference on Teaching in Higher Education, Delaware State College (now Delaware State University), Dover, November 5, 1988.

“Censorship in East Germany,” Delaware Saengerbund and Library Association, Newark, October 17, 1988.

“Literary Censorship in the German Democratic Republic,” at German Studies Association Annual Conference, Session on Literary Censorship in the German-Speaking Countries, Philadelphia, October 7, 1988.

“The Changing Role of the Writer in the GDR,” at the University of Delaware, Newark, February 27, 1986.

“East Germany in the 1980’s: The Dilemma of Détente,” at Cleveland Council on World Affairs, Women’s Forum, Cleveland, March 20, 1985.

“The Politics of Writing in the GDR,” at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, Monterey, January 31, 1985; at the University of Arizona, Tucson, February 13, 1985; at Texas A&M University, College Station, February 26, 1985.

“Censorship in East Germany,” at MLA Annual Convention, Forum on Censorship and Society, Los Angeles, December 29, 1982.

“Teaching East German Literature: A Sampler for American Students,” at AATG Annual Meeting, Section on East Germany in the Classroom, Chicago, November 25, 1978.

Panelist, Session on The Importance of Learning Foreign Languages, at Conference on International Education: A Key to Delaware’s Economic Success in the Global Economy, University of Delaware, Newark, May 13, 1998.

Chair, Session on Literature of the GDR, at Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, University of Kentucky, Lexington, April 18, 1997.

Moderator, AATG Forum II: On the Future of German at the College and University Level, at AATG Annual Meeting, Stanford University, Stanford, August 6, 1995.

Panelist, AATG Forum I: On the Future of German in the Schools, at AATG Annual Meeting, Stanford University, Stanford, August 5, 1995.

Chair, Session on German Literature of the Nineteenth Century (II), at Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, University of Kentucky, Lexington, April 21, 1995.

Moderator, Symposium on Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children, at University of Delaware, Newark, February 25, 1995.

Panelist, Session on An Action Agenda for the 21st Century, at German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Symposium on Germanistik in the USA: Prospects for Change—Changing Our Prospects, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, October 16, 1994.

Commentator, Session on Visibility in the Academy: Positionings, at German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Symposium on Germanistik in the USA: Prospects for Change—Changing Our Prospects, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, October 14, 1994.

Moderator, Session on Defining the Problem–Setting the Parameters, at German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Symposium on Germanistik in the USA: Prospects for Change—Changing Our Prospects, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, October 14, 1994.

Contributor of a short commentary on Heinz-Uwe Haus’s staging of Goethe’s Faust I at the University of Delaware in March 2014, in “Aperçus,” Goethe’s Faust I: The Making and Impact of a Contemporary Performance, ed. Heinz-Uwe Haus and David W. Lovell (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016), 137-138.

External evaluator of the scholarly credentials of an assistant professor being considered for promotion to the rank of associate professor in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures, University of Kentucky, September 2007.

External evaluator of the scholarly credentials of an associate professor being considered for promotion to the rank of professor in the Department of Modern Languages, Elizabethtown College, December 2006.

External evaluator of the scholarly credentials of an associate professor being considered for promotion to the rank of professor in the Department of Foreign Languages, Southeast Missouri State University, October 2006.

External evaluator of the German, Italian, and Russian Divisions of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, Florida State University, Tallahassee, September 20-22, 2005.

External evaluator of the scholarly credentials of an associate professor being considered for tenure in the Department of Modern Languages, Elizabethtown College, December 2003.

Consultant-reader for Gegenwartsliteratur: Ein germanistisches Jahrbuch. A German Studies Yearbook on literature of the German Democratic Republic, 2003.

External evaluator of the scholarly credentials of a candidate for promotion to the rank of associate professor in the Department of Foreign Languages, Southeast Missouri State University, September 2002.

Consultant to the newly created Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, November 29-December 1, 2001.

External evaluator of the scholarly credentials of a candidate for promotion to the rank of (full) professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Classics, University of Alabama, November 1998.

External evaluator of the Departments of African and Asian Languages and Literatures, Classical Studies, Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, Romance Languages and Literatures, and the Linguistics Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, October 9-10, 1997.

Member of the Nominating Committee, German III Section (1933-Present), SAMLA Annual Convention, 1997-1999.

Member of the Academic Affairs Committee, International Council of Delaware, 1996-2000.

Consultant-reader for Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies on literature of the German Democratic Republic, 1995.

External evaluator of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, March 1995.

External evaluator of the Division of Modern Languages and Linguistics, University of South Florida, Tampa, February 1995.

Co-chair of the Delaware Department of Public Instruction’s Foreign Languages Curriculum Framework Commission (as part of the State’s New Directions for Education in Delaware reform agenda), 1994-1997.

Member of the Delaware Department of Public Instruction’s Foreign Languages Steering Committee (as part of the State’s New Directions for Education in Delaware reform agenda), 1993-1994.

Member of the Delaware Department of Public Instruction’s Foreign Languages Steering Committee (as part of the State’s New Directions for Education in Delaware reform agenda), 1993-1994.

External evaluator of the Department of Foreign Languages, Beaver College (now Arcadia University), April 9-10, 1991.

External evaluator of the scholarly credentials of a candidate for promotion to the rank of (full) professor in the Department of Germanic, Slavic and East European Languages, Queens College, City University of New York, February 1990.

Consultant-reader for The German Quarterly on literature of the German Democratic Republic, 1989-present.

External evaluator of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Glassboro State College (now Rowan University), January 30-31, 1989.

External evaluator of the scholarly credentials of five candidates for promotion to the rank of (full) professor in the Department of Languages, University of Rhode Island, January 1988.

Member of the Delaware Foreign Language Advisory Council, State of Delaware Department of Public Instruction, 1986-present.

Consultant-reader for ADFL Bulletin, published by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages, a subsidiary of the Modern Language Association, 1986-present.

Consultant-reader for Colloquia Germanica on literature of the German Democratic Republic, 1985-present.

Member of the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages Executive Committee, 1985-1987.

Presider, “America’s Best: Prizewinning Books 1983-1984” at the 1985 Leipzig Book Fair, an exhibit sponsored by the United States Information Agency and the American Embassy to the German Democratic Republic in East Berlin, March 10-16, 1985.

Consultant-reader for PMLA on literature of the German Democratic Republic, 1984-present.

Referee, National Endowment for the Humanities, Summer Stipend Proposal entitled “Lexicon of Drama in the German Democratic Republic,” September 1984.

External evaluator of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, Carleton College, March 10-12, 1983.

Consultant-reviewer for the publishing house of John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1980-present.

Reviewer, National Endowment for the Humanities, Summer Seminar Proposal on “The German Democratic Republic and its Literature,” July 1978.

Consultant and book reviewer for Choice on literature of the German Democratic Republic, 1974-2014.